The Week Ahead in the European Parliament – January 10, 2020

Next week, Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will travel to Strasbourg for plenary session. Several interesting debates and votes are scheduled to take place.

On Tuesday, the High Representative of the Union and Vice-President of the Commission Joseph Borrell, who has been in office since December 1, 2019, will make a statement regarding the situation in Iran, following a debate on the topic with MEPs. The situation in the Middle East has destabilized considerably after Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani was killed in a targeted U.S. done strike on January 3, 2020. The EU has called for a de-escalation of the situation without condemning the U.S. attack. It has said it remains firmly committed to the Joint and Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, between Iran and the P5+1 together with the EU. After the attack, however, Iran made strong policy statements that were in contradiction to the JCPOA, but stopped short of withdrawing completely from the JCPOA. Before considering re-introducing sanctions, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the EU are deliberating whether to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism under the JCPOA to address Iran’s latest moves. The European Parliament does not have a formal role regarding the imposition of sanctions. Nevertheless, the Parliament can adopt recommendations and resolutions to put pressure on the High Representative and Member States to act.

On Wednesday, MEPs will debate a common vision for and scope of the “Conference on the Future of Europe”. The Conference on the Future of Europe was an idea pitched by French President Macron in March 2019 in an open letter addressed at the citizens of Europe. It is intended to come up with proposals for “all necessary changes to our political project, without any taboos, not even treaty revision.” The other Member States, though less than exuberant, have joined the initiative. MEPs have received the project with more enthusiasm, and see it as an opportunity to push for initiatives such as codifying the “Spitzenkandidaten” system for the selection of the Commission President, or transnational lists of candidates in the election to the European Parliament. It is expected that the Conference would entail a series of national citizen meetings and dialogues. It is scheduled to start in 2020 and end in 2022.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament will take position regarding the European Green Deal, the Commission’s flagship initiative to achieve EU climate-neutrality by 2050. It is likely that the resolution will only formalize the Parliament’s position on the Green Deal in broad terms, as the package will include several legislative initiatives that still need to be introduced. It could, however, be a good benchmark to see whether the ambitions of the Parliament match those of the Commission.

Meetings and Agenda

Monday, January 13, 2020

Sessions

17:00 – 23:00

Debates

Commission statement – Devastating Bushfires in Australia and other extreme weather events as a consequence of Climate Change

Statement by the VP/HR – Situation in Iran and Iraq following recent escalations

Annual report 2018 on the human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter

JD – CFSP and CSDP (Article 36 TEU)

Annual report on the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy

Annual report on the implementation of the Common Security and Defence Policy

Statement by the VP/HR – Situation in Libya

Statement by the VP/HR – Situation in Venezuela after the illegal election of the new National Assembly Presidency and Bureau (parliamentary coup)

Vote: Thursday

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Sessions

09:00 – 11:50

Debates

European Parliament’s position on the Conference on the Future of Europe

12:00 – 12:30

Debates

Address by His Majesty King Abdullah II, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

12:30 – 14:30

Votes

Protocol to the Agreement between the EU, Iceland and Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway regarding the access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes

Rapporteur: Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA (PL, ECR)

EU-China Agreement on certain aspects of air services

Rapporteur: Tomasz Piotr PORĘBA (PL, ECR)

Common system of value added tax as regards the special scheme for small enterprises

Rapporteur: Inese VAIDERE (LV, EPP)

MRs – The European Green Deal

Implementing and monitoring provisions on citizens’ rights in the UK Withdrawal Agreement

Motion on human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter – Annual report

Rapporteur: Isabel WISELER-LIMA (LU, EPP)

Motion on the implementation of the common foreign and security policy – Annual report

Rapporteur: David McALLISTER (DE, EPP)

Motion on the implementation of the Common Security and Defence Policy – Annual report

Rapporteur: Arnaud DANJEAN (FR, EPP)

European Parliament’s position on the Conference on the Future of Europe

15:00 – 23:00

Debates

Topical debate (Rule 162) – Distortion of European history and remembrance of the Second World War

Council and Commission statements – Ongoing hearings under article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Hungary

Council and Commission statements – Ongoing hearings under article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland

Council and Commission statements – The reopening of the prosecution against the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic on the misuse of EU funds and potential conflicts of interest